Heavy rain early in the day gave way to clearing skies on Craft Brewery Day at
Ajax Downs and fans flocked to the track to enjoy some suds and an exciting card of Quarter Horse racing.
Despite a very sloppy track, the track's top horse,
COUNTRY BOY 123, marched through the mud to win the $40,300 All Canadian Classic for the second consecutive year. The big bay 5-year-old, owned by Hillsburgh's Ruth Barbour and ridden by Cory Spataro of Innsifil broke sharply and won by a length in near-track record time of :17.340, just off the 12-year-old record of :17.130.
His speed index was a whopping 108.
"When I saw him bucking and playing in the walking ring I knew he was ready to roll," said Spataro, who has 20 victories to lead the Ajax jockey colony.
"He broke great out the gate and Countrys Comin Bac was right beside him but within two jumps he was on his way."
Countrys Comin Bac, owned and trained by Whitby's Ralph Pearson ran a big race to finish second, just edging the eight-year-old warrior One Famous Glass, trained by Bryn Robertson.
Country Boy 123, the 2016 and 2017 Horse of the Year, has won all four of his 2018 outings and is unbeaten at Ajax Downs in his last six starts.
His career totals stand at 15 wins from 23 starts with earnings of over $274,000.
It was a big day for one of Ajax Downs' most popular riders,
Tony Phillips, who rode three of the eight winners on the card, and Erik and Joyce Lehtinen of Uxbridge owned and bred two of the winners on the card. The Lehtinen's The Flash Drive, a homebred, won race 5 and their grey gelding Selective Memory won race 6.
Ajax Downs celebrates young racing fans next Sunday, July 29 on Junior Jockey Day. For more information, please visit
www.ajaxdowns.com.
From Ajax Downs
Photo by Jennifer Morrison
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